Controversy Doesn't Mar "Smoked by Windows Phone" Successes

For the past few months, Microsoft has been holding impromptu "Smoked by Windows Phone" competitions at industry events and its retail stores, challenging users of other smartphones to take on the efficiency of Windows Phone. It's been an amazingly successful campaign for Microsoft for a simple reason: Windows Phone really is faster at day-to-day tasks. But now some are claiming that in a single challenge out of the hundreds that Microsoft has so far held, the software giant cheated.

Here's what really happened.

Hearing about a local "Smoked by Windows Phone" challenge, a tech blogger visited a Microsoft Store to compete. If he won—that is, was able to complete a random task with his own smartphone faster than Microsoft could on Windows Phone—he'd snag a $1,000 laptop as his reward.

According to his account, the task he randomly received was to "bring up the weather of two different cities." He coincidentally had two weather widgets preconfigured on his Android device's home screen, and had furthermore preconfigured his device to skip the time-consuming but secure lock screen. So when he turned on his device, the home screen popped right up with the two weather widgets. “DONE!” he screamed, winning.

Or did he? Even according to his own account, the blogger only narrowly defeated Windows Phone despite having preconfigured his phone in a very unusual and insecure way that just happened to meet the needs of the task. Microsoft employees at the store argued—pretty poorly, to be fair—that he didn't meet the requirements of the contest, and then even asked him to be photographed as yet another loser in the long-running competition. Talk about adding insult to injury.

OK, so that was handled badly. But it's a bit of stretch to use this event to argue that Windows Phone had, in fact, been "smoked" by Android. What really happened is that an improperly configured Android device allowed a single person to narrowly beat Windows Phone in one event. This doesn't alter the growing mountain of evidence in which Windows Phone has been proven, again and again, to be more efficient than the iPhone or Android.

Microsoft, to its credit, is doing the right thing. Ben Rudolph, the mastermind behind the "Smoked by Windows Phone" campaign, contacted the tech blogger via Twitter and wrote, "I want to make things right. So I've got a laptop and phone (and apology) for you. Email me!"

Besides the unfairness of this "smoked by Windows Phone" challenge with Microsoft, not an unbiased 3rd party, setting up and judging the contest and interpreting the rules, what turns me off about this advertising campaign is just the juvenile nature of it. Who is Microsoft trying to market its phone to? To 16-year old boys who are impressed when someone is "smoked" by someone else?
I'm a lot older than 16, and I'm old enough to have seen good consumer electronic designs and bad designs. Good design is not indicated by how quickly one can snap a picture or get weather reports. It's about the overall ease of use of the device and the intuitiveness of the interface, none of which this ad campaign addresses. Microsoft may think that it's scoring points with juveniles with its ad campaign, but for older adults like me the juvenile nature of the challenges in this ad campaign is an insult to both our taste and our intelligence.

@Meh:
No.
You're in denial about how much and how fast the computing landscape is changing.
Microsoft is focused on the minutiae of how fast WP7 allegedly is compared to other, much more successful platforms, seemingly without realising that these other more successful platforms are going to be much more relevant at the expense of Windows PC's.
They are running around like headless chickens trying to defame the current popular platforms, whilst playing catch up and still trying to somehow keep the creaking dinosaur that is Windows somehow still relevant.
What they should be doing is leapfrogging the current computing paradigms and showing us the future. Not propping up an increasingly irrelevant, heritage way of working.
The problem for them is that they don't have the first clue what this is. As a result, because they are so late into the current paradigm, they wont get to play in it.

"But it's a bit of stretch to use this event to argue that Windows Phone had, in fact, been "smoked" by Android. What really happened is that an improperly configured Android device allowed a single person to narrowly beat out Windows Phone in one event. This doesn't alter the growing mountain of evidence in which Windows Phone has been proven, again and again, to be more efficient than the iPhone or Android."
Oh, come on. It's a bit ironic for you or Microsoft to suggest that this person tilted the competition in his favor by the way he configured his phone. Here we have a contest in which a Microsoft employee is pitted against outside contestants who are kept clueless about the details of the contest. The Microsoft employee has been coached and has practiced all of the different types of particular contests, and even knows in advance which particular contest will be played with the outside contestant. Microsoft sets the rules, Microsoft interprets the rules, Microsoft coaches their contestant, Microsoft makes sure that its phone is properly configured for the particular types of contests it will issue challenges for. Talk about stacking the deck....

"It's been an amazingly successful campaign for Microsoft for a simple reason: Windows Phone really is faster at day to day tasks."
Paul, in previous posts you stated market share is the only number that matters. I believe that Android still is the number one OS on smartphones so how exactly is this campaign successful if it has done nothing for Windows Phone marketshare?

Well, nim, I was trying to point out that you can insert any company name there and have the same result. The MS guys handled it badly, but the Android guy also was a little disingenuous.
However, as you say, everyone clearly copies Apple (just like the notification screen they use, right?) so MS is the bad guy here for sure.

Wow - infiniteloop posting a link with negative things to say about Microsoft with the comment of "This guy gets it." I've never seen that before. But it's good to know that the people who support Apple "get it" and everyone else is hopelessly lost.
yawn

It's not a double standard when:
a. You have no idea of where I buy my clothes.
b. It is an established fact that you are a fool when it comes to IT knowledge.
Go back and post about the disappearing keyboard some more. That will show us!
Heh.

@chuckb84 - I've been consistent for years around here. My thoughts have not changed. I dislike "fanboys" of all varieties and feel that they are simple minded. If you've been around very long, you'd know this. I'm not sure why you think that Paul has "lost me" because I have pointed out the obvious yet again. I use what works best for a task at any given time in both my personal and professional life. Others should try that sometime and quit drinking from the teat of whatever company that they feel is superior - because they all have faults and they all want one thing...more of our money and/or information. If you think otherwise of ANY company, you are as big a fool as kliloopi.

@tayme -
Let me clarify. I think Apple's intent was to personify one product as boring and one as hip rather than the users themselves. It makes more sense when trying to sell something to say "hey this is a cool product and that that is a lame product. don't you want to be associated with a cool product?" rather than "You are lame for using that product". Now if that was in impact of the commercials is up for debate as clearly some (maybe a majority?) of people took it as a the personification of the end users. Frankly it is a debate I don't really have a position on. That said if the majority who saw the ads saw it as you did then the intent doesn't matter because the ads have failed.
As I said in my post I think attack ads against products or users are a bad idea and don't work and that applies to the Apple ads.

Just curious about how the new technology is tied to particular bandwiths in the broadcast spectrum. Given the fuss in Australia over 4G devices which will work overseas, but not here, even though they are advertised as 4G capable, I hope someone can explain. Is it hardware or software related ? Thanks, Les

"I'm not sure why this blog is still called "Wininfo News". It is a shadow of its former self and should now be called "Smart Phone Wars", because that is the majority of what Paul writes about here."
Hmmm. When you lose tayme, you've lost everyone. Wake up call for Paul. But, he just doesn't have anything interesting to write about these days...

@Meh:
No.
You're in denial about how much and how fast the computing landscape is changing.
Microsoft is focused on the minutiae of how fast WP7 allegedly is compared to other, much more successful platforms, seemingly without realising that these other more successful platforms are going to be much more relevant at the expense of Windows PC's.
They are running around like headless chickens trying to defame the current popular platforms, whilst playing catch up and still trying to somehow keep the creaking dinosaur that is Windows somehow still relevant.
What they should be doing is leapfrogging the current computing paradigms and showing us the future. Not propping up an increasingly irrelevant, heritage way of working.
The problem for them is that they don't have the first clue what this is. As a result, because they are so late into the current paradigm, they wont get to play in it.

fanboys said: "Well, nim, I was trying to point out that you can insert any company name there and have the same result. The MS guys handled it badly, but the Android guy also was a little disingenuous."
Well, your point fails because as your example showed you can't just replace the word "Microsoft" with "Apple" in my original post and produce a post that makes any sense for the simple reason that Apple didn't host any ad campaign similar to the "smoked by WP" challenge. All you succeeded in doing was to produce a completely nonsensical post. I'm not saying that Apple always behaves perfectly. What I'm saying is that in this case Microsoft owns the problem.
As for the Android guy being a bit "disingenuous", yeah I'll buy that. But on the other hand this whole "smoked by WP" campaign is "disingenuous", isn't it? This isn't a fair contest. Microsoft deliberately stacks the contest against the challenger in a number of ways already described here. But I'm fine with that. I understand that it's an ad campaign. But for Microsoft to then claim that a challenger is cheating is then, well...... a bit "disingenuous" of them, don't you think? It's like two cheaters sitting at a table and each claiming that the other is the bigger cheater.

@fanboys suck
First of all you post this non sensical rubbish. Substituting Apple's name makes no sense at all.
"The Apple employee has been coached and has practiced all of the different types of particular contests, and even knows in advance which particular contest will be played with the outside contestant. Apple sets the rules, Apple interprets the rules, Apple coaches their contestant, Apple makes sure that its phone is properly configured for the particular types of contests it will issue challenges for. Talk about stacking the deck...."
See what I did there?
Then you post again making little to no sense.
"Uh oh:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/apple-foxconn-production-lines-china-fair-labor-association/story?id=16006516#.T3TrK9VM_nh
Just another example of Apple copying other companies, eh, infiniteloop?
Who's in denial? Oh right: you, fanboy."
Apple joined the FLA a month before the stupid slacktivist petitions and had been in negotiations a year before. The slacktivists then took credit.
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/02/14/protesters-claim-credit-for-apples-january-announcement-of-fla/
Apple then sent the FLA to Foxconn to find violations. This is what they have done, as expected, they found 50 violations by interviewing 35,000 people,
Now Apple joined the FLA voluntarily for this exact purpose, but notice no other company has done the same. Too much to hide I suspect.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/no-company-follows-apple-allowing-expanded-china-audits-amid-abuses-tech.html
The other companies belong to the EICC, a totally toothless organization.
Foxconn and Apple have also agreed to comply to all fihdings.
So the article you quoted has nothing to do with Apple copying anyone (They are the only ones to join the FLA)
It also isn't even a negative article about Apple, the findings were totally expected and both parties have agreed to comply.
@fanboys suck, your comment makes no sense in the context of the article.

This is a nothing story about a cute marketing gimmick. It generated some talking points, but really - as nim said - the competition was specifically geared to show off specific tasks that Microsoft knew were easy in WP7.

First off - your title is a bald (and false) assertion. Since MS runs the contest and then acts like spoiled children when they lose - that seriously mar this campaign. Also, I work in three cities on a regular basis and my weather widget is configured to show all three cities. Is my phone somehow "improperly configured?"
How about a "smoked by available apps" or "smoked by market share" contest :) I know who would come in 3rd/4th in those challenges.
And to be clear about "what really happened" was that MS lost a challenge set up for their phone and then cried like babies.
Slow news day Paul?

@MD - Do you really think the Mac vs PC ads were not poking fun at the users? Contrast the nerdy "PC" guy with the cool dope smoking "Mac" guy. That was the message that Apple was sending, and while humorous at times, they were condescending.
I am certain that you will disagree, though.

fanboys said: ""The Apple employee has been coached and has practiced all of the different types of particular contests...Talk about stacking the deck...."
"See what I did there?"
Uhhh, you copied my post verbatim without properly crediting me and then just inserted the word "Apple" for "Microsoft"? Yes, that was very clever of you, fanboy. Never mind that it makes no sense. Is Apple running some sort of similar contest? Not that I'm aware of.
I am flattered, though, that you thought so highly of my post that you felt you had to copy it and just change a word or two, though. Must be kind of like how Apple feels when Microsoft tried to copy exactly what they're doing.

"I'm thinking Microsoft is just expecting us "older adults" to have a sense of humor. I got a laugh out of it. I didn't take it seriously at all."
Clearly they are going for humor but that is not Microsoft's goal with this. The goal is to sell more phones. The problem is that this type of advertising really doesn't work very well. Attacking users of other devices (even when done in a light hearted way) does nothing but put them on the defensive. For people that don't have smart phones it just reinforces the idea that Android based phones and iPhones are the phones to beat. So while it may sway someone away from an iPhone or an Android phone it will likely push them to the other rather than to a Windows phone. The majority people that really identify with the ads are people like Paul who already use the device because it reinforces their decision to buy the thing. So for Microsoft this does nothing but drive phone retention at best. It does little to expand the market.
If you must do an attack ad then at least don't go after the users but go after the product itself. Apple did this with the Mac vs. PC ads where it anthropomorphized the products rather than going after the users. I still think it is a terrible and ineffective advertising strategy but less likely to result in a story like this where users of other devices are getting worked up.
Sadly microsoft as a history of these "look at the idiot users" ads with the Mojave ads, the ads where people walk in and out of the Apple Store, and now this. You would think that other than making Paul happy they really don't work very well.

@nim:
"Microsoft may think that it's scoring points with juveniles with its ad campaign, but for older adults like me the juvenile nature of the challenges in this ad campaign is an insult to both our taste and our intelligence."
I'm thinking Microsoft is just expecting us "older adults" to have a sense of humor. I got a laugh out of it. I didn't take it seriously at all.
And yes - having easy access to the most commonly used features (like taking a picture) is in fact an indicator of a good, intuitive design. It's not the only indication, but it is one.

@Meh:
No.
You're in denial about how much and how fast the computing landscape is changing.
Microsoft is focused on the minutiae of how fast WP7 allegedly is compared to other, much more successful platforms, seemingly without realising that these other more successful platforms are going to be much more relevant at the expense of Windows PC's.
They are running around like headless chickens trying to defame the current popular platforms, whilst playing catch up and still trying to somehow keep the creaking dinosaur that is Windows somehow still relevant.
What they should be doing is leapfrogging the current computing paradigms and showing us the future. Not propping up an increasingly irrelevant, heritage way of working.
The problem for them is that they don't have the first clue what this is. As a result, because they are so late into the current paradigm, they wont get to play in it.

"The Apple employee has been coached and has practiced all of the different types of particular contests, and even knows in advance which particular contest will be played with the outside contestant. Apple sets the rules, Apple interprets the rules, Apple coaches their contestant, Apple makes sure that its phone is properly configured for the particular types of contests it will issue challenges for. Talk about stacking the deck...."
See what I did there?

I'm not sure why this blog is still called "Wininfo News". It is a shadow of its former self and should now be called "Smart Phone Wars", because that is the majority of what Paul writes about here.
"What really happened is that an improperly configured Android device..."
Define improperly configured. It was configured how the user wanted it. Isn't that how it should be? If he accepts the risk if losing his phone and having his data exposed, is that improper? I wouldn't set my phone up that way...but that does not make it improper, only unsecure.

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